It's Not a Good Day for Two King Goalies : Eliot Is Sent Down, Janecyk Gives Up Five Goals to Flyers in a 7-4 Defeat

Goalie Darren Eliot found out after practice Thursday morning that he will be demoted to the minors because the Kings are calling up veteran goalie Roland Melanson from their farm team in New Haven, Conn.

However, the Kings may be getting rid of the wrong goaltender.

Starting goalie Bob Janecyk, who had won two straight games, didn't last through the second period of a 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night before 12,013 fans at the Forum.

Janecyk was pulled after he allowed 5 goals on 21 shots in 28 minutes 33 seconds.

Eliot replaced Janecyk with 11:27 left in the second period and gave up 2 goals on 19 shots in 31 minutes 27 seconds.

"It's a tough situation for any goalie any time you come into a game," Eliot said. "I knew when they got Melanson that they didn't get him to play in New Haven. They said they weren't going to go with three goalies. I had prepared myself for the worst, but I was hoping for the best.

"Somebody had to go, and this time it was me."

The Flyers, who beat the Kings, 7-4, in their first meeting last November in Philadelphia, had little trouble winning the rematch.

The victory helped the Flyers keep pace with the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League standings. Both teams have 58 points.

The Flyers scored four power-play goals in eight chances against the Kings.

Left wing Brian Propp led the Flyers with a career-high five points on a power-play goal and four assists.

Propp set up a short-handed goal by center Dave Poulin in the first period, and he also assisted on power-play goals by right wing Tim Kerr and defensemen Brad McCrimmon and Mark Howe.

Asked about his five-point game, Propp said: "I'm pretty happy about it. I started off well in the first period."

Said Flyer Coach Mike Keenan: "Offensively, he (Propp) was a real contributor. "The power play is a big part of our offense."

Kerr, the leading goal scorer in the league with 35 in 39 games, also leads the NHL with 22 power-play goals.

"The main reason for our success on the power play is Tim Kerr," Propp said. "He's such a threat to score goals. Other teams worry about him."

The Flyers (29-10-0) have won six of their last seven games, losing to the Oilers at Edmonton. Edmonton defeated Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup final last season.

"We're close to last year, if not better," Propp said. "We have the same players and we're a year older. We're doing the little things better, and when you do that you keep your goals-against down."

Asked if the Flyers are as good as Edmonton, King Coach Pat Quinn said: "They set up different. They don't have a player of the caliber of (Wayne) Gretzky. They have foot soldiers that put the scorers in position."

The Kings, who had beaten the Winnipeg Jets in consecutive games to match their longest winning streak of the season, didn't work hard enough to beat the Flyers.

"We played well enough to lose," King left wing Dave (Tiger) Williams said.

The game was over after the Flyers took a 5-1 lead midway through the second period.

"They (the Kings) had some guys who weren't working very hard," Howe said.

The Kings had a season-high nine power plays and scored three times with the man advantage. Defensemen Grant Ledyard and Mark Hardy, and center Len Hachborn scored power-play goals for the Kings.

And center Marcel Dionne had a third-period goal to extend his scoring streak to seven games.

The Flyers scored on two of four power plays in the first period and added a short-handed goal to take a 3-1 lead going into the second period.

The Kings gave up their ninth short-handed goal this season when Poulin scored off a two-on-one at 2:34 of the first period. Poulin beat Janecyk on a shot to the the short side.

Kerr scored on the power play with 5:56 left in the first period to make it 2-0.

However, Ledyard scored his first goal as a King on a slap shot from the right circle, on a power play with 4:14 left in the first period, to cut the Flyers' lead to 2-1. Hardy set up Ledyard's goal with a nice pass.

McCrimmon scored the Flyers' other first period power-play goal with 2:31 left in the first period off a pass from Propp.

The Flyers made it 4-1 when Craven scored after a giveaway by Ledyard with 15:14 left in the second period.

The Kings then pulled Janecyk after he gave up a power-play goal to Howe.

King Mark Hardy scored his first goal of the season off a rebound of a shot by Jay Wells on a power play with 7:40 left in the second period to make it 5-2. It appeared that McCrimmon knocked Hardy's shot into the net.

Notes

Besides goalie Darren Eliot, defenseman Rick LaPointe is also being sent down to the minors. They have until next week to report to New Haven. The Kings open a five-game trip Saturday night in Toronto. Coach Pat Quinn said that he probably won't start goalie Roland Melanson against the Maple Leafs. . . . The Kings' next home game will be on Jan. 15 against the New York Rangers.